Shelonda Stokes, 51, grew up poor in Baltimore City. Her childhood was transient, as she was raised by her mom and attended three different elementary schools. Her dad died from drug activity. Life wasn’t easy. But when she was 14 years old, she landed her first job, as a custodian responsible for cleaning at Harborplace.

As she worked, she admired everything downtown had to offer. And she was determined to make something of herself.

“Isn’t it serendipitous?” says Stokes, today the president of Downtown Partnership of Baltimore (DPOB).

After graduating from Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, Stokes earned a degree in electrical engineering from Morgan State University and began her career at Hewlett Packard, working on a $10 million government contract. She then co-founded greiBO, a boutique advertising and communications firm, which she still co-owns today.

She was on the board of DPOB and, in 2019, she became its first minority chair. When the president announced he was leaving in January 2020, she stepped up to serve as interim president. Then COVID-19 hit. Far from wearying her on her new post, “That’s when I literally fell in love with this organization,” she says. During the pandemic, DPOB was an “essential” business.

In addition to keeping her staff safely working, Stokes initiated important programs like Curbside Baltimore in support of local restaurants and retailers. She put herself forward for the presidency and was selected by the board, beginning the job in June 2020.

As Stokes describes it, the mission of DPOB is to be the keepers of the downtown area—doing everything from keeping it safe and clean to providing marketing and economic development.

During her tenure, DPOB’s revenues have more than doubled; the State of Maryland has agreed to relocate 12 of its agencies to Baltimore’s Central Business District, which comes with a $50 million allocation; and she created the BOOST program, which stands for Black-Owned and Operated Storefront Tenancy.

BOOST helps both Black businesses as well as downtown, which has seen increased vacancy. With the program, business owners who have been in business for at least a year can apply. Those selected not only receive $50,000 that they use can toward their buildout, site improvement, operations, and lease, but are given legal advice and free training in financing, marketing, and merchandising.

The program is so successful that DPOB has been invited to speak in Vancouver at the International Downtown Association, Congressman Kweisi Mfume invited Stokes to speak about it to the National Small Business Administration, and it’s been covered by Black Enterprise as well as Ebony magazines.

“My vision for downtown Baltimore is a thriving ecosystem of people, art, and culture where creativity flourishes, and diversity is celebrated. An urban center rich with amenities, businesses, theaters, restaurants, sports, and entertainment within a walkable footprint. And where every place, from streets to alleys, is transformed into galleries and meeting spaces that ignite our growing population,” says Stokes. “That’s where I want to live and work.”

Getting people downtown again for shopping, dining, and events. Helping businesses reopen and rehire. Keeping commercial office and retail space filled.

Those are just a few of the challenges facing the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore (DPOB) as the business district tries to bounce back from the pandemic lockdown. But the economic development agency’s board thinks it has just the woman for the job: An electrical engineer.

Well, okay, Shelonda Stokes, just named president after serving in an interim leadership role, is no longer a practicing electrical engineer, but it was her major at Morgan State University. And she thinks that skill set can help DPOB dial up the voltage on the downtown area.

Named by the organization’s board of directors as its fourth president, Stokes replaces Kirby Fowler, who left to become president and CEO of the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore this past April. Stokes, a long-serving member of the Partnership’s board, became its chair last fall and was asked to serve as interim president when the COVID-19 pandemic shut the nation down in March. Prior to accepting that appointment, she was president and CEO of greiBO Media, a marketing and production studio based in Downtown Baltimore.

As interim president of an organization deemed “essential” during the shutdown by Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young, Stokes worked to outfit the Partnership’s operations teams with PPE and the proper safety protocols so they could return to providing public safety, litter removal, homeless outreach, and park maintenance services. She oversaw creation of the #CurbsideBaltimore gift-card program that has provided local restaurants and retailers with an infusion of cash, launched the #ArtofBaltimore public art initiative, and has taken over Heart of the Park, a service began by Harbor Park Garage and Pierpoint Restaurant that provides 250 free meals daily.

But what about that electrical engineering degree?

“I grew up extremely poor,” says the 48-year-old Baltimore native and mother of two. “I was the first in my family to go to college. And I went into that major at Morgan to make sure I’d be in a field where there’d be no question about employment. And, in fact, after I graduated, I got seven job offers. But, actually, the essence of many technical fields is about problem-solving. And I apply those technical skills on a daily basis.”

The Partnership is really two organizations. One focuses on marketing the downtown area, which is supported by revenue from events and membership dues from downtown businesses. The other is the Downtown Management Authority, which oversees improvements to public spaces in the 106-city-block area and is funded by a surcharge on the taxes of commercial properties downtown.

But because of business closures caused by the pandemic, the funding for the prior operation is facing real strains.

“So we have to figure out how we can offer more with less,” she says. “And that’s something we’re definitely focused on as a priority.”

Another priority is getting the word out that Charm City is open for business.

“Many people have learned to work from home, they’re saving gas, and they don’t have to dress up in the morning—that’s a reality,” Stokes says. “So we have to give them a reason to leave that and come back downtown and spend money.”

And how long will that take? The Owings Mills resident—who’s about to move to a new home downtown—says it’s hard to project.

“We’re still in Stage One. And the city has to find a balance between people’s health and the economy. It’s going to be a while, but we’ll see incremental progress.”

So how does it feel to lose the “interim” part of her title?

“It’s pretty funny,” Stokes says. “It’s like being a substitute teacher at work.”